18 Hours

18 Hours

I recently came across a quote by Gary Vaynerchuk, an entrepreneur and innovator. Noting that everyone has 24 hours in a day and six hours a day is required for sleep, each person still has eighteen hours each and every day to spend however they so choose. For those that need seven hours of sleep that leaves seventeen hours, still a sizable chunk of time. Most people wake up, work, and then have the evening hours to themselves. For those younger people, this time often is open with time for socializing and entertainment. For those with families often much of this time is spent engaging in family activities, doing chores, and preparing for the next day. Certainly there are phases of life- with young children, during an illness, etc- in which the evening or early morning are packed full, however this is the exception instead of the rule. Much of the evening and late night of the modern adult is filled with entertainment. Movies, books, TV shows, video games, browsing the internet, and social media. In most cases these activities do not build strong social ties (yes, even social media) or generate productivity in another way.

They say that if you love what you do vocationally you will never work a day in your life. While this is not purely true, there is certainly something to be said for have work that you love. When I am on a project I enjoy I think about it constantly- while walking in, while eating, while running, and while walking home. Much of the evening time (between 7pm and 1am), is spent working on those projects because they are entertainment in and of themselves. This is the goal, to have your work be so engaging and have such a purpose that it can be your entertainment. Regardless of your work, whether you find the 9 to 5 enjoyable or not, the 7 to 1 is yours to create and do whatever you would like. Don’t waste that opportunity.